


Hidden hurts

by StarryKnight09



Series: Febuwhump 2021 [12]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: FebuWhump2021, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Irondad, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:42:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29413584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarryKnight09/pseuds/StarryKnight09
Summary: “That was fast.” Peter said, trying to fill the silence.  “Don’t you think that was fast?  I mean, are missions always over this fast?  I thought we’d be here a lot longer.”Mr. Stark hummed instead of answering.  Peter glanced over his shoulder to see that he’d fallen behind.  He stopped and waited.Febuwhump Day 13: hidden injuryandFebuwhump Day 21: “ I can’t lose you too”
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Febuwhump 2021 [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2138670
Comments: 22
Kudos: 209





	1. Chapter 1

“We got it!” Sam announced over the comms.

“Great. Now let’s get out of here.” Clint chimed in.

“You heard the man. Everyone back to the Quinjet. We got what we came for.” Steve said.

“Yes!” Peter celebrated, not over the comms, but to Mr. Stark, as he pumped his fist in the air.

“Come on kid, let’s skedaddle.” Mr. Stark said, and even though Peter couldn’t see his expression behind the Ironman mask, he could tell the man was amused by his antics. There was an odd tension in his voice as well, but Peter ignored it. He figured his mentor was just stressed.

“Aye aye.” He mocked saluted and turned around so they could start making their way back to the Quinjet and out of the weird ice fortress. They hadn’t encountered any bad guys in the last ten minutes, so he was hoping they’d be able to slip back out the way they came without any resistance. He was a little disappointed they hadn’t been the ones to find the stolen alien tech, but it was still cool to be on an Avengers mission. His first official one. If he wasn’t counting the whole Thanos thing when he followed Mr. Stark to Titan and then came back to fight the purple guy again, until Captain Marvel came from the sky and took the glove from Peter, snapped it, and ended everything once and for all.

“That was fast.” Peter said, trying to fill the silence. “Don’t you think that was fast? I mean, are missions always over this fast? I thought we’d be here a lot longer.”

Mr. Stark hummed instead of answering. Peter glanced over his shoulder to see that he’d fallen behind. He stopped and waited.

“Am I going too fast for you?” He joked, but as he studied Mr. Stark he felt a twinge of worry. Usually Ironman didn’t move so slow, and it almost looked like he was trying to mask a limp.

“Are you ok Mr. Stark?” He asked.

“Tony.” The man reminded him. Right. Ever since Peter had returned from the snap, Tony had insisted Peter call him by his first name instead of Mr. Stark.

“Are you ok _Tony_?” He asked again.

“I’m fine kid.” Tony answered, but the tension that’d been there throughout the mission remained, and now Peter was starting to see it in a different light. Instead of being tense because Peter was there, maybe it was something else. Peter looked the armor up and down and didn’t see any marks or damage over it, but it was nanotech, so even if something had happened, it would’ve fixed itself instantly.

“Ok.” He said but let his skepticism shine through. When he went back to walking, he slowed his pace slightly, and when Tony didn’t call him out on it, his concern increased.

They continued through the ice tunnel in silence. Peter could almost imagine they were in some kind of fancy glacial themed hotel instead of a Hydra subset hold out in Greenland except for all fighting they’d had to do to get in here and all the unconscious or dead Hydra soldiers scattered about. 

“Hold up kid.” Tony said and Peter paused, watching as Ironman got down on one knee to pick up a blue glowy knife thing next to one of the fallen soldiers. Peter had seen some of them carrying similar weapons but he hadn’t thought much of it.

“Collecting souvenirs?” He asked.

Tony grunted as he straightened and simply said, “Research.”

Peter didn’t ask any further because he got the sense that Tony didn’t want to elaborate on it at the moment. The man had been oddly quiet, not that he was ever a motor mouth like Peter, but usually he talked more than this near silence. It was odd because he’d been talkative enough on the Quinjet ride here, but at some point since they’d stormed the ice castle, he’d grown quiet.

“Lead the way Pete.” Tony prompted and Peter realized he’d been staring at him.

“Right.” Peter gave him a nod and continued on. Tony was allowed to have an off day. Peter didn't need to overanalyze it like he always did with everything. 

When they finally made it up the ramp and into the Quinjet, Peter noticed they were the last group to arrive. All the other Avengers sat scattered around, besides Clint, who was in the pilot’s seat up front, ready to take off now that they were all accounted for.

“Hey guys.” Peter greeted them, pulling off his mask.

“Hey pipsqueak.” Sam said with a smirk.

He rolled his eyes at the teasing, but when he noticed Steve frowning at him, he frowned back, wondering what he’d done to put that look on Captain America’s face. As uptight as Tony joked about Steve being, Peter didn’t think he’d have a problem with a little eye rolling. But then he realized Steve wasn’t looking at him, but past him, to where Tony stood.

“Tony.” Steve said and Peter turned around, his own eyes widening at the sight. Tony had retracted the nanotech of the helmet, so Peter saw his face for the first time since they’d started the mission, and he looked terrible. He was white as a ghost and his hair stuck to his forehead with beads of sweat.

“Are you all right?” Steve asked, quickly crossing the distance between them so he was beside Tony in a few steps.

Rhodey perked up at that, turning from where he’d been talking to Scott to take in the scene, brow furrowing. “Tones, you ok man?”

Rhodey started toward them and Tony waved him away, but the next second his knees buckled. Steve grabbed his arms, easing him down to his knees so he didn’t hit the ground too hard.

“Tony?” Steve repeated, concern clear. Rhodey rushed over, kneeling down on Tony’s other side. 

“What happened?” Rhodey asked, directing the question toward Peter.

Peter shook his head. “I don’t-I don’t know.” He wished he did, but he had no clue. Besides being slower and quieter than usual, Peter hadn’t noticed anything else different about Tony. Certainly nothing to indicate there was something seriously wrong. He hovered behind them, wanting to help, but not sure what to do or what kind of help was even needed.

“What’s going on back there?” Clint called from the front and Peter vaguely registered the feeling of the Quinjet taking off.

“Not sure yet.” Sam answered since Rhodey and Steve seemed otherwise occupied.

Tony still hadn’t answered any of their questions and now his breaths seemed to be coming in short little gasps. 

“Tony, take this off.” Rhodey ordered, tapping at the armor that still covered his body. “Where are you hurt?”

Tony shook his head, not answering, but the nanotech started melting away anyway, revealing the flesh and bone underneath. Nothing became immediately obvious once the suit disappeared, leaving Tony in his regular clothes. Peter let out a silent breath of relief. Whatever it was couldn’t be that bad then. 

“Tony,” Steve said in his Captain America voice, “tell us what’s going on.” 

Peter watched as Steve put his hand on Tony’s back in a gesture of support only to pull away as if he’d been burned, holding his hand out to stare at it.

Steve’s hand was red. Peter stared at it, seeing but not comprehending.

“Shit.” Rhodey swore the instant he noticed the blood painting Steve’s hand. The two of them shared a look over Tony’s head and in the next second they were both moving quickly, in unison, turning him to examine his back.

And that’s when Peter saw it. The entire left side of Tony’s shirt was soaked in blood. The world around him seemed to tilt and twirl. Nothing made sense and yet it all made an exact scary kind of sense. The reason for why Tony had been acting the way he had been clicking into place. He’d been hurt and hiding it from Peter. But when? And how? 

As soon as they saw the blood soaked shirt, Rhodey and Steve pulled it up, revealing a three inch gash over his left lower back. No. Not a gash. A stab wound.

Rhodey swore again and before Peter could even blink, Steve had gathered Tony up in his arms, carrying him toward a bed surrounded by medical equipment in the back.

“Sam.” Steve beckoned the other man over, and they rolled Tony onto his side, Rhodey putting pressure on the wound as Sam and Steve worked to hook him up to machines. 

Peter watched, feet frozen to the ground, his entire body numb beside a weird tingling in his fingers. 

“It’s ok.” Wanda said, suddenly at his side. He’d been too distracted to even hear her come over. “Let’s go sit down.” She nudged him toward a bench nearby and somehow his feet managed to unstick and make it over there, his eyes locked on Tony the entire time.

“Peter.” Wanda said as she crouched in front of him, breaking his sight line to Tony. She squeezed his tingling hands. “Can you breathe with me?”

It was only then that he noticed he was taking in short harsh staccato breaths like he couldn’t get enough air. He didn’t even have the breath to answer her, so he nodded, trying to gain control. He did his best to mimic her as she mimed breathing in deep, holding it and breathing out slowly. Eventually, he managed to bring his breathing back under control, but he had no clue how long it’d taken.

“Sorry.” He mumbled, feeling embarrassed that he’d lost it so completely in front of an Avenger.

“It’s ok.” She smiled kindly at him. “It’s not a weakness to care.” Her eyes saddened after she said it, but Peter could see she meant it.

He nodded, sneaking a glance past her to Tony. He had an oxygen mask on now and IV lines in place. Peter couldn’t tell if he was conscious or not but at least he was alive. For now. It only brought him a small comfort because Peter knew better than anyone how tenuous a hold life had on a person. A vision of Ben, sprawled out, bleeding on the ground intruded into his thoughts.

Wanda gave his hands a firm squeeze again, and he swung his gaze back toward her, trying to give her a thankful smile but failing.

How had this even happened? And how Peter not noticed? Tony had been in the armor. He hadn’t taken it off. How could he have gotten stabbed?

 _Research._

The word popped into Peter’s mind along with the image of Tony crouching down to pick up that weird knife. Where had it gone? Peter searched the floor and noticed it over by the wall where Tony had been standing before everything had gone sideways.

The blue glow seemed to taunt him. It all made an awful sort of sense. The blade must’ve pierced the nanotech armor.

But how?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I switched it up and whumped Tony this time instead of Peter. I think this might be the first time I've ever done that. Anyway, I did it again and made this prompt into two chapters. The second one will be another Febuwhump prompt. Sorry for the wait!
> 
> Come hit me up on [Tumblr!](https://starryknight09.tumblr.com/)


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Febuwhump Day 21: “I can’t lose you too”

“He’s going to be fine.” The instant the words left Dr. Cho’s mouth, Peter’s legs collapsed out from under him and he slid down the wall against his back. Leaning his head forward, he buried his hands in his hair as he distantly registered the uttered phrases of gratitude coming from everyone else around him. Mr. Stark was going to be ok. _Tony_ was going to be ok. The all-encompassing fear faded, only to be rapidly replaced by anger. Peter blinked. That was a surprise. He hadn’t even realized he was mad until just now. But he was. Because Tony had been hurt, and he’d hidden it from him, and he very well could’ve died. Peter knew the image of Tony bleeding all over the Quinjet wouldn’t be leaving him anytime soon.

“Peter?” Pepper’s voice interrupted his internal stewing. His head shot up to find her staring at him from across the room.

“What?” He’d missed whatever she’d said before.

“Do you want to come with me to see him?” Pepper repeated patiently.

“Yeah. Yes.” He stood so quickly his feet got caught up together and he almost fell before righting himself.

Pepper smiled and as he was close enough to her, she rested her hand against his upper back in support. He let her lead him out of the room they’d all been waiting in and down the long hallway into Tony’s room. His mentor laid asleep in the bed with an oxygen cannula in his nose, connected to a plethora of tubes and wires. He looked so small and vulnerable and not like himself and Peter hated him for it. The instant the thought crossed his mind, he felt like the most terrible person on earth, but he couldn’t help what he felt, the anger continuing to churn uncomfortably in his gut.

“He’s been in and out.” Dr. Cho explained from where she stood at Tony’s bedside adjusting a setting on one of the monitors. “But as soon as the anesthesia wears off, he should more awake and with us.”

“Thank you.” Pepper said, wasting no time crossing the room to sit in the empty chair next to Tony’s bed.

Dr. Cho gave her a nod in acknowledgement. “Let me know if you need anything.” She said and Peter watched as she turned and walked out.

“Why don’t you sit down honey?” Pepper suggested and gestured toward the other empty chair on the opposite side of the bed.

But he stayed standing where he was, just inside the threshold of the door. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t seem to make his feet move forward. He’d never felt like this before. He was so happy Tony was ok, but at the same time he was still so mad at him he could barely stand to look at him. He couldn’t be here right now. He couldn’t sit there and patiently wait for Tony to wake up when all he wanted to do was pace, yell, scream, break something.

“Peter?” Pepper frowned at him when he made no move to come any closer.

“I…” He took a deep breath and held it before letting it out with a huff. “I uh, I’m going to go.”

“What?”

“I can’t— I-I have to go.” He turned on his heel and fled before Pepper could say anything else.

He practically ran as he made his way down the hallway. As he turned the corner, he crashed into someone.

“Sorry.” He mumbled automatically.

“Whoa kid. Where’s the fire?” Clint asked then frowned when he saw whatever expression was on his face. “You ok?”

“I’m fine. Um, actually can you do me a huge favor?”

“Sure.”

“Can you give a ride back to the city?”

Clint’s frown deepened. “Don’t you want to stay with Tony?”

“No. I-I want to go home.” He said, almost pleading.

“Did something happen?” Clint asked and Peter could tell he was worried about his friend even though the two of them had one of the oddest relationships Peter had ever seen.

“No. Just… I just want to go. I can’t be here right now.” He said, the words coming out too quickly, but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t know how else to explain because he couldn’t even make sense of his own twisted emotions at the moment.

“Ok.” Clint agreed easily. “Let’s go.”

“Thank you.” Peter sighed in relief.

“No problem kid.” Clint jerked his head to the side. “Let’s go.”

Clint drove him all the way back to the city in relative silence, which Peter knew had to be throwing up tons of red flags for the man because Peter was never quiet, but Clint didn’t say anything, which Peter greatly appreciated.

In fact, Clint didn’t speak until they were in front of his aunt’s apartment building and Peter was opening the door to leave. “You give me a call if you need anything kid. All right?” 

“Ok. Thanks.” He gave the man an appreciative smile before closing the door and heading into the building.

Their apartment was dark when he walked in. May must be working a shift at the hospital. He had no clue when she’d be back because he had no idea what time it was. The whole situation with Tony had consumed his entire world including his sense of time. He flicked the lights on. The clock in the kitchen showed it was 1:35, and since it was dark outside that meant it must be the middle of the night. He instantly felt guilty for asking Clint to drive him home. He’d have to send the man another thank-you text later.

He knew he should eat but he didn’t want to, his appetite nonexistent, so he walked to his bedroom instead, sitting down in his desk chair even though he knew he should be trying to go to bed. That exercise would be pointless. There was no way he could sleep right now. 

The desk chair rocked back and forth in time with his agitation. All could think about was how angry he was at Tony for hiding such a bad injury from him. How he almost could’ve died. As he sat there, his anger built and built until it was all encompassing and he felt about to burst. In a fit of fury, he grabbed the glass globe on his desk, a present from Tony, and threw it against the opposite wall where it smashed into a million pieces. He sat in his chair breathing hard as he stared at the mess. Breaking it hadn’t helped. His anger hadn’t abated, and as he stared at the glass pieces all over his floor, he hated how much they reminded him of ice.

“Peter can you get the door please? It must be the takeout!” May called from her bedroom where he knew she was finishing getting ready for work. She had a shift that started in half an hour and she was already running late so she’d ordered him Chinese food instead of trying to cook something, which Peter was more than grateful for.

“Yeah! I got it!” He called back, setting down the circuit board he’d been soldering. He made sure to put the hot metal tool safely in its stand before quickly glancing at his phone. Ned still hadn’t texted him back. The only text on his notifications was an unread one from Tony. Ever since he’d gotten hurt and hid it from him three weeks ago, Peter had been ignoring his texts and phone calls as a sort of punishment. He wasn’t ready to forgive him yet. Thinking about the whole thing now still made him clench his teeth as he went to let the delivery guy in.

Peter undid the lock and flung open the door without checking through the peephole and immediately regretted it. A delivery guy wasn’t standing in front of him. Tony Stark was.

“Shit.” The word slipped out.

“Nice to see you too.” Tony remarked sarcastically, but Peter could see the hurt behind his eyes. “Are you going to invite me in?”

Peter wasn’t sure yet. He tried to decide if he could really muster up the gall to slam the door in Tony Stark’s face.

“Oh, hi Tony.” May said from behind him. “Peter didn’t tell me you were coming over.”

“Because I didn’t know.” He said, unable to hide his irritatoin.

“Well, what a nice surprise then.” May narrowed her eyes at him in reprimand for his obvious rudeness. “Come on in. How are you feeling? Peter told me you got hurt a few weeks ago.”

“Oh, he did, did he?” Tony arched an eyebrow at him. “Funny. I wasn’t sure if he’d noticed.”

Peter openly glared at him.

“Hmm.” May looked back and forth between him and Tony. He hadn’t told her anything about what’d been going on between them, but she seemed to be quickly figuring out something wasn’t quite right. “Why don’t you take a seat?” She gestured toward the couch. “Can I get you something to drink? Water? Soda?”

“No thanks. I’m good.” Tony said as he sat.

“Ok, well, I have to get going.” She said hesitantly. “Are you two boys going to be ok by yourselves?”

“We’ll be fine.” Tony answered before Peter had a chance to.

“Ok.” May nodded but Peter could tell she was skeptical. She gathered her things and headed toward the door, pausing to make eye contact with him while Tony wasn’t looking and mouth the words, ‘Be nice.’

Peter rolled his eyes and waved a hand at her to wordlessly tell her to go. So she did. The door clicked closed ominously behind her.

“So…” Tony started with forced lightness when Peter made no effort to speak or come any closer to him.

“So what? Why are you here?” Peter accused, crossing his arms over his chest in case the words alone didn’t make his displeasure obvious.

Tony’s eyebrows lifted to his hairline, and he looked a mix of shocked and impressed at Peter’s attitude. “Oh, I’m sorry. You haven’t been answering any of my texts or calls, what did you think I was going to do?”

“Not just barge in here because you don’t like when someone ignores you.”

“Ok first, I didn’t barge in. Aunt Hottie invited me in.”

“Don’t call her that.” He practically growled. It irked him whenever Tony called her that, but he’d never told him so before. 

“Ok. I won’t.” Tony shrugged, agreeing easily, which threw Peter off.

Tony cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes as he studied him. Peter tried not to fidget. After a few long seconds, Tony stood and declared, “So, obviously you’re mad at me.”

“Wow. You really are a genius.” Peter snarked.

“Ok. You’re really mad at me.” Tony nodded, walking over to where Peter stood in the middle of the room between the couch and the kitchen. “That’s fair.” 

“Oh, is it? I’m so glad you think so.” His anger only grew. He hadn’t dealt with it the last few weeks, deciding to ignore it instead, so now that it was being reawakened, it’d come back with a vengeance.

Tony stopped once they stood face to face and took off his lightly blue tinted sunglasses, pocketing them so Peter could look directly in his eyes.

“Are you going to tell me why you’re mad at me?” Tony asked so calmly it made Peter want to scream at him, but he resisted.

“You can’t figure it out?” He spat out instead. “Let’s see, what on earth could I possibly be mad about?”

“I’m sorry I got hurt kid.” Tony said, and Peter could tell he meant it, but it wasn’t enough.

Peter shook his head. “That’s not it.”

Tony’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “It’s not?”

“No.”

“Ok…” Tony frowned. “Then what?”

Peter just glared at him.

Tony shook his head. “Kid, you’re going to have to help me out here because I have no idea.”

“Because you hid it from me!” He yelled, throwing his arms up in the air in frustration as his anger exploded.

“Ah.” Tony gave him a nod in acknowledgement. “Right. I can see why you might be upset about that.”

“You’re such a hypocrite!” He continued. Now that he’d let some of it out, he couldn’t stop, like a valve being released on a pressure cooker. “You always get on me about not telling you when I get hurt. You freak out if I chip a nail on patrol and don’t tell you about it, and then you get stabbed by some crazy alien knife and you don’t say a word?! It’s bullshit!”

“I know.” Tony agreed. “You’re right. I should’ve said something. I—”

“Yeah you should have!” Peter interrupted. “Do you have any idea what it was like? Coming back to the Quinjet and having no clue something was wrong just to watch you collapse? Bleeding everywhere? Not knowing what the hell had happened or if you were even going to be ok?”

The more Peter ranted the more somber Tony’s face got.

“How could you do that to me?” He hated that his voice broke.

Tony put his hands on his shoulders and Peter had to fight the urge to shrug them off. “Pete, I’m really sorry.” 

“I can’t—” He stopped, trying to hold back the thought that’d be on repeat in his mind ever since Tony had collapsed in the Quinjet. It was too honest. Too baring. But his anger made him brave, so he said it. “I can’t lose you too.”

He stared Tony in the eyes, but then he had to look away, unable to bear the brunt of regret he saw in them.

“I know. And you won’t kid. Not if I have anything to say about it. I plan to stick around for a long time.”

Peter huffed. As if just wanting to stay alive was enough to make it happen. Peter knew better.

“Why didn’t you just tell me?” He asked quietly.

Tony sighed. “I didn’t want you to worry when there wasn’t anything you could do, but obviously that was a mistake. You’re right. I should’ve told you.”

“Yes, you should’ve.” He agreed, his ire cooling but still not completely gone. “And there is something I could’ve done. I could’ve put pressure on or at least made sure you didn’t keep wandering around like an idiot with a stab wound, bleeding out.”

“Yeah, I deserved that.” Tony winced. “Admittedly, that wasn’t one of my best decisions…”

“No it wasn’t.”

“But it won’t happen again, kid.” Tony squeezed his shoulders. “I promise.”

“It better not.” 

Tony nodded and gave him a careful smile. “So, are we good?”

Peter shrugged. 

“Hug it out?” Tony asked, holding his arms open in invitation. 

Peter rolled his eyes but stepped forward to hug him anyway.

“I don’t like it when you’re mad at me.” Tony said.

“Well, I don’t like it when you’re an idiot so I guess we’re even.”

Tony snorted. “Still a little mad at me, huh?”

Peter hummed in agreement.

“Too mad to let me take you out to Veronica’s?” Tony asked as pulled away.

“Really?” Peter asked, unable to keep his excitement at bay. It was his favorite restaurant in the city, but it was on the complete opposite side of Manhattan so May never wanted to go there, and Tony never did either because he thought it was too lowbrow.

“Really.” Tony smirked and then held up a finger. “On one condition.”

“What?” Peter eyed him dubiously, sensing a trick.

“You agree to start answering my phone calls and texts from now on.”

“Fine.” He agreed. He’d already planned on doing that anyway.

“Then let’s go kid.” Tony led him out of the apartment by the shoulder, just like usual, and even though Peter still hadn’t completely forgiven him yet, he knew he would eventually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this is a little rough! I'm going to try to go through it again sometime later, but it was the best I could do and still get it up in time before work today.
> 
> Come hit me up on [Tumblr!](https://starryknight09.tumblr.com/)


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